In an attempt to nourish their families, many women remain stuck in the age-old tradition of cooking over open-fire stoves, as they believe that it cooks food faster and properly, and makes it tastier, undoubtedly exposing them to smoke and toxins.

The National Bureau of Statistics, in its 2024 Nigeria Residential Energy Demand-Side Survey, indicated that 67.8 per cent of Nigerians rely on firewood for cooking, including for agricultural, commercial, cultural, or religious purposes.

Disaggregation by state indicates that Bauchi State reported the highest, with 91.0 per cent, followed by Sokoto State with 77.8 per cent, and the least was Oyo State (48.0 per cent).

However, a long range of health issues, including pneumonia, lung cancer, low birth weight, and eyesight impairment, are linked to prolonged exposure to firewood smoke and fumes.

In fact, exposure to household air pollution from firewood and kerosene cooking can significantly impair children’s cognitive development, raising new concerns about the health and future productivity of millions of Nigerian children.

Dr. Yetunde Adeniyi, a consultant psychiatrist, stated that findings from a follow-up study of children born between 2015 and 2026 showed that children whose mothers cooked with firewood or kerosene stoves exhibited developmental delays compared to their peers whose mothers used ethanol.

Dr. Adeniyi spoke at the Household Air Pollution and Cognition (HAPCOG) stakeholders meeting, marking the final phase of nearly 20 years of research examining the health effects of traditional cooking fuels on the health of women and children.

It was organised by the Centre for Population and Reproductive Health (CPRH) and Healthy Life for All Foundation in partnership with the University of Chicago.

The focus was on smoke produced during cooking, which disproportionately affects women and children, who spend more time around household kitchens.

Families were divided into two groups: those that cooked with traditional fuels such as firewood and kerosene, and those that used clean fuels like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and ethanol.

The researchers followed pregnant women from both groups throughout pregnancy and childbirth. The children born during the study were monitored for several years. When they reached seven, researchers assessed their intelligence, behaviour, and adaptive skills.

The results indicated that children from households using firewood and kerosene had lower IQ scores and more developmental challenges than their counterparts from clean-fuel households.

Sola Olopade, a professor of medicine at the Pritzker School of Medicine, linked the lower IQ scores and more developmental challenges in children of women who cooked with traditional fuels like firewood and kerosene to their unborn babies developing in an environment with low oxygen levels.

Olopade, a pulmonologist, said at the heart of the issue is how the human body responds to pollution.

When people are exposed to polluted air, the body initially relies on antioxidants, defences supported by good nutrition, to neutralise harmful free radicals. But when pollution levels are high and nutrition is poor, those defences collapse.

This results in inflammation and a “thrombotic state”, where blood is more likely to clot. This is particularly dangerous in organs supplied blood by small end arteries, such as the heart, brain, and placenta.

According to him, “The placenta, the lifeline between mother and child, is essentially the baby’s food bank. When it’s damaged by pollution-related thrombosis, the baby develops in a low-oxygen environment. So, the baby grows under stress.”

However, Professor Olopade explained that the findings cannot be interpreted to mean earlier generations were “less intelligent”. Rather, he argued that chronic exposure to pollution likely suppressed potential.

“Many people who did well despite these exposures might have been even more exceptional under cleaner conditions. Pollution does not erase intelligence; it suppresses it,” he added.

Professor Olopade explained that the findings do not mean affected children are condemned to lifelong impairment, but reducing exposure, improving access to clean fuels, and creating healthier environments could prevent further damage and allow recovery.

He stated that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), solar energy, or any other truly clean energy source is crucial to removing smoke from kitchens, even though ethanol has emerged as a potential substitute among clean cooking possibilities.

Moreover, the Director of CPRH, UI, Professor Dosu Ojengbede, said clean cooking could improve the health of mothers and unborn babies, as such experience reduced blood pressure without medication, fewer miscarriages and stillbirths, and carried pregnancies to full term more often than those using traditional fuels.

He added that even after birth, newborns may continue to suffer the effects of pollutants inhaled by their mothers during pregnancy.

Professor Ojengbede emphasised the importance of bringing together scientists, legislators, health professionals, community leaders, and study participants to influence policy decisions and encourage a move towards cleaner cooking energy.

Cooking with clean fuel is better in the long run. No doubt, when children begin to experience health problems or women develop respiratory issues, medical expenses arise, and the consequences can be fatal. That is why policymakers and everyone else should come together to promote the adoption of clean cooking fuels. (Saturday Tribune)

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